Immediately after FDI AWDC 2013, in Istanbul, by invitation of the Circulo de Odontólogos del Paraguay (COP), I had the pleasure to attend, as FDI past president, the IX International Congress in Assuncion (5-7 September).

Open ceremony – national authom of Paraguay.

Colleagues from Paraguay.

The FDI General Assembly in Istanbul approved the COP membership as Associate member. As the COP representatives couldn´t attend the Istanbul AWDC, so I had the honor to deliver it locally…

With the president of the COP, Eduardo Poletti Paoletti.

I took the opportunity to present in Spanish the Vision 2020 FDI project…

When I took office as FDI President two years ago at the meeting of the General Assembly in Mexico City, I made a commitment to leave FDI in a stronger position and reinforce its reputation as a reliable, trustworthy and credible partner to our members, stakeholders, the industry and partners.

In concrete terms, FDI has made measurable achievements in a number of areas over the past year.

The ones I would like to highlight are:

The Vision 2020 project, and the launch of FDI Observatory for Oral Health Prevention and Control;

NCD’s Non-Communicable Diseases: the success in the FDI for within the United Nations and WHO in imposing the view that oral diseases share risk factors with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; they would therefore benefit from similar prevention and control activities;

FDI and TDA Congress press conference with Taner Yücel president of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and of the Turkish Dental Association (TDA)

16,197! That is the final tally of visitors attending the 2013 FDI Annual World Dental Congress (AWDC) and Exhibition, held in Istanbul (Turkey) from 28 to 31 August 2013. That makes it the biggest FDI congress for over one decade; that also makes it the largest medical congress ever held in Turkey.

It was also uppermost in our thoughts when, out of the different areas of focus identified in Vision 2020’s, two elements intimately related to our work on NCDs emerged as priorities. The first of these is the development of an observatory for oral health prevention and control, including data retrieval, oral health surveillance and oral health indicators.

The other priority area identified is collaborative practice. This has two dimensions: intra-professional collaborative practice, which places oral health care within the context of a team of oral health practitioners led by the dentist.

…”So, it is my task once again to thank our friends at Unilever … for kindness, hospitality and all the support I have received during my term as FDI president. It has, literally, spanned all continents.

As the second phase of this unique partnership closes, I am sure that we are all looking forward to seeing the evolution and innovations of phase 3, which is set to launch later this year. “

The 2014 theme is “Celebrating healthy smiles”.

It will be celebrated worldwide on 20 March again.

Contract signature between FDI and the Dental Association of Thailand for the Bangkok AWDC 2015. From left to right, with Jean-Luc Eiselé (executive director of FDI) Tin Chun Wong (president-elect of FDI), Lt Gen Phisal Thepsithar (president-elect of the Dental Association of Thailand) and Adirek S. Wongsa (president of the Dental Association of Thailand).

Bangkok will be hosting the 2015 FDI Annual World Dental Congress from 22-25 September 2015.

Istanbul Declaration signature approved at the 101st FDI AWDC. Oral health and general health: a call for collaborative approach ”To strongly defend oral health as a fundamental human right and an integrated part of general health and well-being.”.

From left to right, with Harry-Sam Selikowitz (vice Chair of FDI Science Committee), Li-Jian Jin (Chair of FDI Science Committee) and Taner Yücel (president of TDA).

Escarcel study press conference. From left to right, with Teresa Layer (vice president, Oral Health Category Research and Development at GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare), Denis Bourgeois (professor of Periodontology and Public Health, Vice President of Science and Medical Faculty and Dean of the Faculty of Odontology at University of Lyon 1, France), Adrian Lussi (professor and Head of the Department of Operative, Preventative and Paediatric Dentistry, University of Bern, Switzerland), Nicola West (professor in periodontology and Head of Department, Bristol Dental Hospital and School, UK) and David Bartlett (professor and Head of Prosthodontics at Kings College London Dental Institute, London, UK).

At the Colgate booth with Marsha Butler, VP, Global Oral Care Colgate and local responsible officers.

World Oral Health Forum 2 that I had the privilege to open: “Addressing Oral Health within the Global Non-Communicable Disease (NCDs) initiative: A focus on the opportunities provided by such integration at regional and country level”.

A moon over the Bosphorus… A crescent shaped by a bite……“In Eastern mythologies the crescent moon also represents women, motherhood… and again as the shape of the bull horn is a symbol of power in Anatolian cultures.”, from Cem Sağbil.

My welcome speech: “ This Annual World Dental Congress is a reflection of what FDI represents in the world today: relevant, influential, well-informed, ubiquitous”…

The great performer Burhan Öcal.

“Fire of Anatolia “ and “Sultans of dance” performance.

Handover of FDI Presidential Chain to president-elect TC Wong.

The Turkish Dental Association Organizing Committee. Well done!

Crowds at the exhibition… more than 270 companies showcasing their products and services in some 6000 square metres…

…and at the scientific sessions with 171 speakers and 1190 abstracts presented!

Thanks for the support of Industry. With the president of International Dental Manufacturers (IDM) Jürgen Eberlein.

My last Council meeting…

By joining hands in the pursuit of these goals, we have been able overcome the heavy challenges of recent. This is due to the Council, the Executive Committee, the FDI staff under the leadership of the Executive Director, and volunteers both within and external to the Committees, our industry partners and other stakeholders, all working together with the same passion and commitment to succeed.

World Parliament

“… I would like to personally thank ‘our man at WHO’, chief of its oral health programme, Dr Poul Erik Pedersen for his tireless efforts to keep oral health on the WHO agenda….”

Organizing Committee New Deli, India 2014 at the GA.

FDI 2013 Istanbul was a huge success – and we are expecting the same from New Delhi. Why this confidence? A single word ‘venue’.

Receiving certificate of appreciattion of the FDI.

“ For the future, my message is that FDI should pursue its long-established role as advocate for oral health combined with compatible diplomacy, uniting the profession and working collaboratively with other oral health specialists and health professions.
I personally stand ready to continue my engagement with FDI World Dental Federation as a passionate and committed fan of its work and achievements. “

Thank you to the FDI staff and…

Special thanks to the FDI Executive Director, Jean Luc-Eiséle.

President and president-elect of the FDI, TC Wong and Patrick Hescot. Good luck for the future!

When I took office as FDI President two years ago at the meeting of the General Assembly in Mexico City, I made a commitment to leave FDI in a stronger position and reinforce its reputation as a reliable, trustworthy and credible partner to our members, stakeholders, the industry and partners.

By joining hands in the pursuit of these goals, we have been able overcome the heavy challenges of recent times and can at last perceive on the horizon a glimmer of hope and enthusiasm. This is due to the Council, the Executive Committee, the FDI staff under the leadership of the Executive Director, and volunteers both within and external to the Committees, all working together with the same passion and commitment to succeed.

In my role as FDI ambassador, communicating the ethical and practical messages of FDI among its members and stakeholders around the world, I have been touched by the enthusiasm of my hosts in 30 countries or more for the work of FDI and their commitment to the values of the dental profession. It is this energy and enthusiasm that helped me accomplish what I set out to do.

In concrete terms, FDI has made measurable achievements in a number of areas over the past 12 months. The ones I would like to highlight here are Vision 2020, the FDI Strategy for Africa, our global partnership with Unilever, our success in the field of dental materials and its immediate results, and, finally, World Oral Health 2013.

Following last year’s adoption of Vision 2020, a revised version was published in the International Dental Journal. At a meeting in Chicago in February, a decision was made to move into Phase II in two specific areas, data collection/oral health indicators and collaborative practice. We have managed to gain some industry financing for this initial stage. We had a meeting in June to lay the groundwork of for moving forward in these two areas.

June of this year saw the publication of FDI’s Strategy for Africa, in reality not only a strategy but also a list of activities to be undertaken by Africa-based NDAs and by FDI. The published statement was the result of a summit in Cape Town in November 2012, which included group and break out sessions, and reached a true consensus on the way forward.

We continue to score successes with our global Live. Learn. Laugh. Partnership with Unilever Oral Care, now in Phase II and involving 27 countries. The meeting for 2013 took place in Athens, where all the participants were able to report the latest developments. Phase II, as you are probably already aware, has a more particular focus on data collection and analysis.

One of the major successes in 2013 was ensuring the continued availability of dental amalgam by ensuring its phase-down, rather than phase-out in the Minamata Convention, the international treaty on mercury to be signed in October in Minamata, Japan. This success was due to a concerted effort by FDI, IADR and with the support of the Oral Health Programme of WHO over a three-year negotiating period, launched in 2010.

In return, the dental community had promised a concerted effort in the field of prevention and reduction of dental amalgam impact. I am happy to report that, in collaboration with UNEP, WHO, IDM, we have already move into the implementation phase with a pilot project on dental waste management in East Africa.

Finally, I would like to draw the General Assembly’s attention to the success of World Oral Health Day 2013. We had no illusions that 20 March would be celebrated everywhere, especially considering the change of date from 12 September: in fact, it is unlikely that we would ever achieve a 100% alignment around the world. What we did achieve was a sustained worldwide effort and a group of case studies as we encourage more and more countries to join us in the coming years. 36 countries is about one fifth of the world’s nations: it’s already an important beginning.

To close, I would like to salute the reports from the Treasurer and the Executive Director demonstrating progress over the past year both in the performance of the Geneva office and the good news of returning to surplus, ending a series of disappointing financial results. It reflects well on all of us that, once the alert was given, we immediately adapted our work and style of living to the new realities.

For the future, my message is that FDI should pursue its long-established role as advocate for oral health combined with compatible diplomacy, uniting the profession and working collaboratively with other oral health specialists and health professions.

I personally stand ready to continue my engagement with FDI World Dental Federation as a passionate and committed fan of its work and achievements. I would like conclude by thanking my colleagues in Portugal and Portuguese speaking countries, especially of the Portuguese Dental Association, Ordem dos Médicos Dentistas, for their support throughout my term as FDI President.

By invitation of the President of Kazakhstan Dental Association, Saule Esembaeva, I had the pleasure to attend the XI Congress of CIS “Innovation in Dentistry” in Almaty, Kazakstan.

Receiving the honorary title of professor from the Kazakh National Medical University (KazNMU), by decision of the Academic Council (30/04/2013), from the hands of Akanov Aykanom Akanovich, rector of the Kazakh National Medical University, KazNMU, named after S.D. Asfendiyarov.

The Declaration of Alma-Ata was adopted at the International Conference on Primary Health Care (PHC), Almaty (formerly Alma-Ata), Kazakhstan (formerly Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic), 6-12 September 1978. It expressed the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers, and the world community to protect and promote the health of all people. It was the first international declaration underlining the importance of primary health care. The primary health care approach has since then been accepted by member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) as the key to achieving the goal of “Health For All” (See Wikipedia). The venue was this very same KazNMU.

Participation of over 500 delegates from Kazakhstan, 67 lecturers 17 countries that came together to promote innovative technologies and most effective dental care in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Addressing the delegates at the welcome ceremony where I also presented the FDI project “Vision 2020”.

An entertainment moment at the welcome ceremony.

Kazak traditional folk music.

With Anara Zhumadilova, from the Nazarbayev University, Astana and president of Kazakhstan Stomatological Association, FDI regular member.

Meeting with the KazNMU academic council.

Kazakhstan national TV coverage

Meeting of the FDI/ERO (European Regional Organization) working group “Integration”, chaired by Elena Ivanova.

From left to right, myself, Brenda J. Myers (secretary general of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy), Cecil Wilson (president of the World Medical Association), Michel Buchmann (president of the International Pharmaceutical Federation).

The Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly (WHO) took place in Geneva. Officials from 194 Member States begin their annual review of the activities of WHO and set new priorities for the future. The Health Assembly discussed discuss specific health topics like noncommunicable diseases (NCD’s), universal health coverage, women and children’s health, as well as the programme budget, administration, reform and management matters of WHO.

Of particular interest to FDI will be the report on progress in various fields related to noncommunicable diseases and the draft action plan to the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013-2020.

I’m looking forward to this year’s Assembly. Despite oral health not being assigned a separate section in the draft work programme, thanks to our work in Geneva and our members at the national level, oral health is not absent, rather it is a cross-cutting issue between all areas of WHO work.

In particular, the link between NCDs and oral disease, in particular oral cancer, is explicitly mentioned. A great deal of emphasis is placed on Clause 54 of the United Nations Political Declaration of the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases in relation to involving “the private sector and civil society, in collaborative partnerships to promote health and to reduce noncommunicable disease risk factors”.

In parallel, the World Health Professions Alliance WHPA launched a reception joining heads of delegations and WHO selected representatives of international health organizations.

The WHPA brings together the global organizations representing the world’s dentists, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists and physicians and speaks for more than 26 million health care professionals in more than 130 countries. WHPA works to improve global health and the quality of patient care and facilitates collaboration among the health professions and major stakeholders.

Orlando Monteiro da Silva

Medical dentist for 30 years in is hometown Porto, Portugal. Is president of the Portuguese Dental Association and past president of the FDI World Dental Federation. Former president of the Council of European Dentists. (more)